Yooooo guys! Aussie author Lili Wilkinson's new book The Boundless Sublime (it's about cults!), has just hit shelves. As part of the blog tour I've got Lili herself here on Fiction in Fiction in Fiction talking about her experiences with writing and what she's learnt to get where she is today.
Synopsis:
"Ruby Jane Galbraith is empty. Her family has been torn apart and it's all her fault.
The only thing that makes sense to her is Fox - a gentle new friend who is wise, soulful and clever, yet oddly naive about the ways of the world. He understands what she's going through and he offers her a chance to feel peace. Fox belongs to a group called the Institute of the Sublime - and Ruby can't stay away from him. So she is also drawn in to what she too late discovers is a terrifying secretive community that is far from the ideal world she expected.
Can Ruby find the courage to escape? Is there any way she can save Fox too? And is there ever really an escape from the far-reaching influence of the Institute of the Sublime?
A gripping YA novel about an ordinary girl who is unsuspectingly inducted into a secretive modern-day cult."
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Contemporary
What I’ve learnt from my career in writing
Lili
Wilkinson
Editorial feedback letters are funny things. I’m always terrified to get one, in case my publisher has suddenly realized that she’s been wrong about me the whole time and that actually I’m a terrible writer. But the letter usually starts well.
Lili, this book is a triumph! We love it!!!
And then…
…here are twelve pages of things we’d like you to change.
Learning how to graciously accept feedback was one of the hardest parts of becoming a writer. Because when I started out, I’d pour my heart and soul into a story, and make it as good as I possibly could before bravely showing it to someone and WHAT YOU DON’T THINK IT IS PERFECT HOW COULD YOU STAB ME IN THE HEART IN THIS CRUEL AND UNJUST WAY etc etc.
But I toughened up pretty quick. Because here’s the thing I’ve learnt:
You can’t write a book alone. Or at least, I can’t write a book alone. It might have my name on the cover, but I need other people’s help. Editors are the actual best and I now love getting my feedback letter, because it opens up all these new possibilities for my story, and gives me the opportunity to make it better. And it can always be better.
I get help for my books from all over the place. I did a lot of research for The Boundless Sublime, looking into cults and new religious movements, and a lot of people were extremely generous in sharing experiences and stories.
As well as my editors, a bunch of other people read the book in various stages of draft – my husband Michael, my parents, and writer friends Sarah Dollard, Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld. Then I approached particular people for specific things – a friend with a particular knowledge of eating disorders helped with some of the cult’s weird dietary practices. I talked to a cop and a paramedic for certain procedures and terms. I chatted with a defamation lawyer about some of the details for my culty webseries Let’s Talk About Sects, because I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get sued.
There’re other people too – the wonderful Astred Cherry who designed the cover. My publicist Jessica. Copyeditors and proofreaders and foreign rights people and sales reps and of course the fabulous BOOKSELLERS and reviewers and bloggers and booktubers.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY there are the readers. A book is a conversation, and without readers, a book is just a waste of a tree.
So THANK YOU EVERYONE for helping me write a book.
Group hug? Dance party?Let’s Talk About Sects webseries about Lili’s cult research: http://www.liliwilkinson.com.au/lets-talk-about-sects/
Thank you so much Lili for joining me on the blog (:
More
information about The Boundless Sublime:
https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/childrens/young-adult-fiction/The-Boundless-Sublime-Lili-Wilkinson-9781760113360
I LOVE THIS. I especially love the idea that writing does take a lot of work from multiple people - something that amateur writers (like me) often forget. Great tips :)
ReplyDelete